On Tuesday 28 January 2003 08:57 am, Kaj Haulrich wrote: <snip> > Thanks, Lyvim and Tony. > > The story goes on : 5 minutes ago I had a telephone > conversation with a Dell Denmark representative. He wasn't > sure what linux-distro they offered, only he gave a > guarantee, that an Optiplex SX260 would run linux. After > some additional pressure I managed to get a bargain : > > Dell Denmark will deliver an Optiplex with only a > rudimentary DOS in it. He claimed that it would be > necessary in order to get the hard disk running (???) and > maybe for legal reasons. The price cutoff would be around > 70-80 euros relative to a box with WindowsXP. > > Sounds good, eh ? > > Kaj Haulrich > =========================================== > Powered by Linux - Mandrake 9.0 > Registered Linux user # 214073 at http://counter.li.org > Source : my 100 % Microsoft-free personal computer. > ===========================================
AFAICR the agreement between Dell and Microsoft says that Dell can't ship barebones boxes; but doesn't exactly specify what operating system must be included. Note: included, not installed. One of the ways that's been found to circumvent MS's heavy handed interference was to just toss a copy of FreeDOS in with the tower and ship it. A 70 to 80 Euros discount is certainly better than none; but I'd be curious to know how much of the actual OEM price they're passing along in that discount. Last I checked here in Canada Retail Win XP Home Edition goes for CDN$159.00. The stores in town here that sell barebones boxen add that to the price. If one is buying a "preconfigured system;" meaning one that's advertised as a "Plug'n'Play," the discount (for those willing to do such a thing) is only CDN$100 or so. The excuse is "We have to test whether we ship a system with an Operating System or not." which may sound reasonable but I don't think so. They have to test, granted, and the testing is included in the price of the system, not a part of the OS price in my opinion. It's still better than nothing though. Regards; -- Charlie Edmonton,AB,Canada Registered Linux user # 244963; http://counter.li.org Powered by - Mandrake 9.1 beta2 (cooker)
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